UPDATE 2-Australian carbon scheme faces growing opposition

SYDNEY, April 18 (Reuters) - Opposition to Australia's
planned carbon tax is swelling with almost 60 percent of voters
against the plan and major food retailers, miners, energy and
agriculture firms writing to the prime minister criticising the
tax.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council said the carbon tax
would increase the cost of food and grocery manufacturing, while
the Business Council of Australia said it could damage the
country's export competitiveness and drive production offshore.

Forty-five mining, energy, agriculture and food firms said
in a letter to Prime Minister Julia Gillard they had no capacity
to pass on carbon costs, with rising input prices due to supply
chain problems after floods in eastern Australia and the strong
Australian dollar.

As business executives stepped up their campaign against the
tax, voters are also growing increasingly hostile as they fear
that the tax would raise the cost of everything from food to
electricity.

A poll of 1,400 people, carried out at the end of last week
and published in Fairfax newspapers on Monday, found that 59
percent of respondents opposed the plan, up 3 percentage points
from the last survey in March.